Does can anyone recommend an app or website specifically for listening to pirate radio stations from around the world?
Another crackdown on Boston-area pirate radio stations
71–80 of 93 posts
Re: Another crackdown on Boston-area pirate radio stations
#72The obvious issue is whether radio adds any value now that we can stream over the Internet, with unlimited channels. While I'm a geek and love the idea of broadcast over free airways, practically how is radio any more useful now than cable tv? Here are some answers: * We're talking about pirate radio, not commercial. Pirate radio is a person broadcasting to the world, or really to their neighbors. We can do that on t…
> The obvious issue is whether radio adds any value now that we can stream over the Internet, with unlimited channels
It has a lot of value for me. I don't have to subscribe to a streaming service, I don't have to have special equipment beyond the ubiquitous radio, it works in areas where there is no cell or internet service, etc.
Streaming has its place, but it has a different use case than radio.
Re: Another crackdown on Boston-area pirate radio stations
#73Fascinating how terms such as "pirate station" get into common language and nobody is getting a pause. Pirates are people who ransack other ships on the sea. The term has originally nothing to do with not having a license. Is a ship crew who sails the seas without a license a group of pirates? No. Is this a language psyop to implant people with a negative view of people who do stuff without official license?
I don't know that the origin of the name is fully known, but: Pirate radio in the UK in the 1960s was often from actual ships floating just offshore in international waters (or disused forts/installations located in them). There was more of a "evading the authorities at sea" aspect than I think you're giving it credit for.
Radio Caroline was the #1 station in the UK at one point.
Re: Another crackdown on Boston-area pirate radio stations
#74Fascinating how terms such as "pirate station" get into common language and nobody is getting a pause. Pirates are people who ransack other ships on the sea. The term has originally nothing to do with not having a license. Is a ship crew who sails the seas without a license a group of pirates? No. Is this a language psyop to implant people with a negative view of people who do stuff without official license?
> The term has originally nothing to do with not having a license.
Nautical pirates were called "pirates" specifically because they didn't have a license to engage in the activity. The ones who had licenses ("letters of marque") were called "privateers".
Re: Another crackdown on Boston-area pirate radio stations
#75The Boston radio dial feels like it's been bled dry of culture in the last decade. To name a few of the old stations, WFNX and WBCN had a marked impact on the city's music scene, beginning in the 60s and sadly coming to an end around 2010. They carried local artists, broke some big names (WFNX introduced Nirvana to mainstream media, for instance), and often sponsored local music events. The radio dial now is now most…
Yep... it is so hard to believe WBCN, WFNX, and WAAF are all gone. Radio in Boston is atrocious these days. It is really hard to believe there is actual demand for what Clear Channel has jammed the dial with. I think the only reason some of the stations are there is because Clear Channel owns everything and it's cheap for them to air it.
Yeah, music radio is very nearly completely dead and it was killed by the likes of Clear Channel, Cumulus, etc.
Re: Another crackdown on Boston-area pirate radio stations
#76Earlier quoted context omitted.
see also 'jay walking'
I don't think this is quite the same. "Free as a jaybird" isn't something most people have a negative feelings about.
'jay' was a slur 'cityfolk' used to describe a rube from a rural area. Someone who didn't understand the culture of the city and was too trusting, etc.
The auto industry co-oped it and used it as a wedge to get city streets turned over to cars so they could sell more cars.
Calling people broadcasting on 'protected frequencies' pirates is a similar slur.
Re: Another crackdown on Boston-area pirate radio stations
#77Earlier quoted context omitted.
> I wrote a book on low power AM broadcasting. Sound great. I hope you'll post a link. > they operate at very low wattages (sometimes 100 watts or less) Since the original article is about a station on the shoulder of the TV VHF-Low and FM bands here's my take on it. Even a very low power transmitter rated 100 watt ERP. Frankly the pirate's rig might even achieve ERP levels in the 6-8 kw range if they get lucky, enou…
Sorry, but no. EIRP is actual power plus antenna gain; ERP is the same thing minus 3 dB. By definition, an omni antenna has low gain. Narrow directional antennas will have high gain, resulting in higher EIRP, but would not be suitable for covering a whole city.
I now realize that I should have replaced ''the pirate's rig might even achieve ERP levels in the 6-8kw range if they get lucky'' with ''the pirate's rig might even achieve ERP levels in the 6-8kw range if they get better gear''. Anyway.
Re: Another crackdown on Boston-area pirate radio stations
#78Earlier quoted context omitted.
> What is Radio being used for that’s so critical these days anyways beyond emergency spectrum stuff Everything? The only reason we're able to have nice things like GPS and Bluetooth connectivity to our cars and WiFi for our laptops is that we regulate radio frequency emissions. You may imagine non-compliance as a punk rock pirate radio station broadcasting music you like on unoccupied spectrum, but that's an edge ca…
These aren’t on the GPS band, and 2.4GHz is explicitly unlicensed — you can’t interfere with the 2.4GHz band because it’s in a state of free-for-all (why it was chosen for wifi and bluetooth in the first place!) Pirate radio stations broadcast frequency modulated audio centered around 87-127MHz, aka FM radio. This is because they are intended to be picked up on FM radio receivers, which nearly everyone has access to.…
FWIW, in the US, the FM band is 87.9 - 107.9 MHz, odd decimals only, for 101 possible channels.
Re: Another crackdown on Boston-area pirate radio stations
#79The obvious issue is whether radio adds any value now that we can stream over the Internet, with unlimited channels. While I'm a geek and love the idea of broadcast over free airways, practically how is radio any more useful now than cable tv? Here are some answers: * We're talking about pirate radio, not commercial. Pirate radio is a person broadcasting to the world, or really to their neighbors. We can do that on t…
> While I'm a geek and love the idea of broadcast over free airways, practically how is radio any more useful now than cable tv? Broadcast radio has fewer deadzones than cell service. Additionally, while audio streaming is relatively low bandwidth, my current cell plan charges all bits against my usage allowance and there's a hard cap; if I used streaming audio instead of terrestrial radio while driving, I'd hit my u…
Even if you had an unlimited plan, the part that makes it feel yucky is the need to pay for a plan just to gain access in the first place. That feeling radio gives can never be recreated over toll-roaded channels.
Re: Another crackdown on Boston-area pirate radio stations
#80The obvious issue is whether radio adds any value now that we can stream over the Internet, with unlimited channels. While I'm a geek and love the idea of broadcast over free airways, practically how is radio any more useful now than cable tv? Here are some answers: * We're talking about pirate radio, not commercial. Pirate radio is a person broadcasting to the world, or really to their neighbors. We can do that on t…
Your average Joe can listen to radio completely anonymously on a device which the government has no control over. Tor and similar tech is mostly outside the reach of the government, but is also way out of reach for the general population.
Even if they weren't way out of reach for the general population, you can't get around the fact that you need to connect to a service end-point to receive anything and you're going to have to cast something to make the connection. Nothing over a digital network is ever going to recreate the magic of being able to shout freely into infinite space allowing anyone with a basic understanding of science to pick it up.